Intel 520 Series 480GB Review

The 520 Series is presented in a similarly designed package as per Intel’s processors. The front of the packaging refers to the type of drive this is and the total capacity. The rear of the box has further technical details.

Inside, the SSD has been placed inside a well packaged box and is retained within an anti-static bag.

The packaging for the Intel 520 Series

The SSD is well protected

For an SSD there is quite an assortment of bundled accessories with the 520 Series. The included items consist of:

With the packaging out of the way we can finally take a look at the SSD itself. The 520 Series has a rather lack-lustre visual appearance. The aesthetics are purely with functionality in mind. The edge has been given a plastic border whilst the innards have a brushed metal surface. The front has a label detailing the serial number and capacity. The various standards that have been adhered to have been placed on the front label too.

The front of Intel 520 Series

Spinning the drive over onto the rear side, Intel hasn’t treated this side with any type of finish. It is in a dull, untreated state as per the image below. There are 4x mounting holes for attaching this drive to the mounting bracket provided or within the computer chassis if your choice.

The rear of Intel 520 Series

The surface of the SSD with protective border and brushed metal shell

At the centre of the Intel SSD 520 is SandForce SF-2281 controller. This controller is also used with Corsair Force 3, Kingston HyperX, Patriot Pyro and other popular SSDs.

The NAND flash used on the Intel 520 is 25nm Intel 29F16B08CCME2. Intel has selected the best NAND and assures enthusiasts these are of the best you can get.

With the inspection now over let’s see how 520 performs whilst under testing conditions against a list of rival drives.